OCMC: Chris Nielsen in What Dreams May Come

Despite What Dreams May Come possessing a healthy amount of material that tends to bring tears to the eye, here’s an ultimately uplifting and sweeping drama that appeals on a more universal level than Bobcat Goldthwait’s darkly comic rumination on the nature of the living memorializing those who have passed.

For anyone concerned about “what happens after death,” this film could be looked at as more than just powerful suggestion. Snagging the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects in 1998, Vincent Ward’s epic love story tells of a man wandering the afterlife in search of his wife after she kills herself when she finds it impossible to cope with the loss of her entire family in two separate car accidents.

In another one of my favorite dramatic overhauls, Robin Williams is at once vulnerable and desperate as Chris Nielsen. Once in heaven he does everything in his power to understand what is going on and how he can reconnect with his fragmented family. But when he learns an act of suicide means a direct ticket to Hell, Chris finds an entirely new purpose in the afterlife: rescuing his dear beloved from eternal agony.

To be completely honest I’m still reeling in the wake of the news but it’s getting easier each day. I miss the man dearly. I like to think he’s soaking up some nice shade underneath that beautiful blue Jacaranda.

Quoted: “A whole human life is just a heartbeat here in Heaven. Then we’ll all be together forever.”

It’s certainly not ever cracking Robin Williams’ top movies or performances, but there’s enough here to jerk a couple of tears. It’s a beautiful film, and though I have no real religious affiliations, this is one that made me think somewhat deeply on the matter. That might have been more thanks to the gravity of Williams, though. He affects deeply

Indeed it is man. I love this movie for several reasons and yet it’s hauntingly bittersweet for others, like you mentioned. HOpe he is doing well. I’m sure he is. This is just such a concept to process, that he’s no longer here. The eff is going on.